American doctor in Africa tests positive for Ebola

BOONE, N.C. (AP) -- An aid organization says that an American doctor working with Ebola patients in Liberia has tested positive for the deadly virus.

North Carolina-based Samaritan's Purse issued a news release Saturday saying that Dr. Kent Brantly tested positive for the disease and was being treated at a hospital in Monrovia, Liberia. Brantly had been serving as medical director for the aid organization's case management center in the city.

Samaritan's Purse spokeswoman Melissa Strickland says that Brantly's wife and children had been living with him in Africa, but they are currently in the U.S.

Strickland says that Brantly began serving in Africa as part of a post-residency program before the Ebola outbreak began. The deadly disease has already killed 672 in several countries since the outbreak began earlier this year.